Long time member (but no longer up-to-date) seeking informed opinion on CPU and MB replacement kit. I am doing home studio music production, so a quiet, stable AND mid-high performance PC is a must. Relatively low power consumption at idle is also quite important, as is expandibility.

So here goes:

CPU: Intel i5 3570I understand this is currently the CPU of choice.

MB: ASRock H77 Pro4/MVPhttp://www.asrock.com/mb/Intel/H77%20Pro4MVP/No idea about this one really, but apparently I will need the SATA 3.0 for an optimally performing solid state drive. Also, it needs some PCI and other slots for any expansion stuff I might get. Am slightly concerned about power consumption.

HD: Kingston SV200S3N/256G solid state drivehttp://www.kingston.com/us/ssd/v/This is in addition to old, big and quiet HDD - hoping for smoother and faster performance, perhaps I'll eventually migrate completely to solid state.

RAM: Kingston HyperX blu - 2x4GB DDR3 1600MHz PC3-12800 CL9Only going for 8 GB - should be more than enough, but if not, I can always expand.

Cooler - one of these three:Scythe KATANA 3 SCKTN-3000I orCooler Master Hyper 212 Evo orCooler Master Hyper 212 PlusThis I don't know about. I'm wary about coolers with built-in fans that are hard to replace, and I only have 80mm fans that I trust. Smooth fan acoustics are fairly important, more so than noise level. But I'm willing to try one of these.

MB: I would simply advice you to choose any motherboard you'd like. So your choice seems perfect for you.

SSD: Kingston used to be very popular for SSD's but as of late, I haven't heard much about them. Also, user ratings from Newegg and Amazon don't seem to favor Kingston SSD's. Why not choose a brand that is known to be reliable. I'm thinking of Samsung 830, Crucial M4, and any SSD from Intel. These are popular for their reliability. Do you need 256 GB for OS + programs?

CM Hyper 212+: Good cooler, but the fan has bad acoustics. You'd need to replace the fan (for example with a Scythe 120 mm PWM fan) if you choose this option.

CM Hyper 212 EVO: I'd expect same performance as 212+, but I don't know much about the fan. You can always try the fan first, and if you don't like it, then swap it out with the mentioned Scythe PWM fan.

Scythe Katana 3: Though many would think this cooler doesn't have the performance needed than consider that the i5 3570 only has a TDP at 77 W. In the SPCR review the Katana 3 has no problem cooling a 95 W CPU quietly. In fact, the 95 W CPU only got 26 C hotter than ambient room temperature when the 92 mm Nexus fan run at a SPl at 11 dBA/1m.

Thanks, I will! And I'll stay far away from OCZ - those are horrible return rates.

kuzzia wrote:

SSD: Kingston used to be very popular for SSD's but as of late, I haven't heard much about them. Also, user ratings from Newegg and Amazon don't seem to favor Kingston SSD's. Why not choose a brand that is known to be reliable. I'm thinking of Samsung 830, Crucial M4, and any SSD from Intel. These are popular for their reliability. Do you need 256 GB for OS + programs?

Music files gobble up a lot of space. Thanks for the advice on stability - it's vital.

kuzzia wrote:

CM Hyper 212+: Good cooler, but the fan has bad acoustics. You'd need to replace the fan (for example with a Scythe 120 mm PWM fan) if you choose this option.

CM Hyper 212 EVO: I'd expect same performance as 212+, but I don't know much about the fan. You can always try the fan first, and if you don't like it, then swap it out with the mentioned Scythe PWM fan.

Scythe Katana 3: Though many would think this cooler doesn't have the performance needed than consider that the i5 3570 only has a TDP at 77 W. In the SPCR review the Katana 3 has no problem cooling a 95 W CPU quietly. In fact, the 95 W CPU only got 26 C hotter than ambient room temperature when the 92 mm Nexus fan run at a SPl at 11 dBA/1m.

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